


Flower Boys

by panboi



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff, Gift Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-11-13
Packaged: 2018-04-30 10:27:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5160371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panboi/pseuds/panboi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi owns a flower shop and is pleasantly surprised when a certain young man comes in and asks him if he would like to go on a date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flower Boys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [breyfree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/breyfree/gifts).



Levi hummed softly as he set fresh flowers in a vase by the front door of his shop. The warm summer air calmed him as he finished cleaning up the desk and getting ready to turn on the OPEN sign that hung in his window. 

There was never much foot traffic this time of day but he loved the morning shift, he loved the sight of the sun rising over the horizon. He sighed as the sign flickered on and he climbed back behind the counter to take out a small water spritzer to hydrate the plants he wanted to sell. He made sure to give extra care to the azaleas that had just started to blossom. Levi jumped when he was tapped on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," a tall man said softly. "I was wondering if I could buy these?" He pointed to a bouquet of red carnations, gloxinias, and jonquils.

Levi nodded, brushing off his apron that protected him from the dirt in the pots. He cleared his throat as he walked to the cash register and rang the man up, but the longer Levi studied the him, the more he realized that he couldn't be over twenty. 

 _And he already towers over me,_ Levi though bitterly. 

"That'll be eight dollars even." Levi handed the  _boy_ back his boquet, and allowed the boy to hand him the money to pay for it with. "Thank you, please come again." Levi said, forcing a smile.

"Actually," The boy seemed to squirm uncomfortably in his skin. After a moment of awkward silence with an increasingly annoyed Levi the boy thrust the flowers at Levi. "I-I wanted to give these to you." The boy refused to meet the older man's gaze, instead staring off at a pot of blue flowers that Jean didn't recognise. 

Levi reluctantly wrapped his hands around the stems of the flowers that had been wrapped in a transparent white plastic sheet. 

"Thank you...?" Levi questioned, brining the flowers up to his nose as if he hadn't smelled them a thousand times before. When Levi looked back up, the boy had a wide grin on his face. Then he waved and...left.  _Well, that was new._ Levi thought in amusement.

Levi suddenly noticed something poking out of the red and white flowers. He fished it out and found it was a card that read:

**Hi, you're really cute, maybe we could go out some time?**

**xxx-xxx-xxxx**

**-Jean**

Levi smirked, sliding the card into his pocket and making a mental note to call the number later.

 

The rest of the day was as uneventful as any other, but for some reason Levi was jittery and couldn't stand the silence that he usually enjoyed. He paced the store, talking to most of the costumers that came in, recommending certain flowers for certain occasions and taking his time to carefully water each plant the exact amount that it needed. 

As soon as the day was over he cleaned up the shop and pulled out his phone to call the number, all the stupid "wait a couple of days before you call" bullshit was exactly that, bullshit. Besides, Jean came up to him first. His thumb hovered over the call botton before finally clicking it and bringing the phone up to his ear. The phone rang twice before Jean answered.

"Hello?" The young boy's voice asked hopefully. 

"Hi, this is Levi- the guy from the flower shop," he corrected himself, since Jean would have no idea what his name was. 

"What?" Jean seemed somewhere between excitement and disbelief. "Hey, what's up?" 

"I just wanted to know when you wanted to take me out." Levi purred into the phone. This was very unusual thing for Levi, he never lusted after anyone, though, this wasn't really lust...what was it? Interest? Levi couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about the boy that came into his shop and bought him flowers made him want to get to know him more.

Jean hesitated on the other end of the line before answering. "I'm free now if you're ready." 

Levi panicked for a minute unsure if he should go home and change before heading out, but then decided against it. "Sure, just pick me up in front of the flower shop."

"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Jean confirmed, hanging up the phone. 

Levi took off his apron and folded it before setting it down on the counter. Then he took his keys and locked up the shop. He waited outside until Jean got there, missing the warmth that the sun had provided earlier in the day when it was full in the sky. Now the sun hung low, offering little comfort to Levi. 

After a few restless minutes, a black car with two yellow stripes moving from the front of the hood to the bumper came into view. The driver door opened, revealing Jean in the same pants and T-shirt he had been in earlier that morning. Levi gave out a small sigh of relief. _G_ _ood, I'm not under dressed._

Jean raced to the passenger door and opened it grandly, Levi suppressed a chuckle and took a seat on the cold black leather. Jean carefully shut the door and ran around the front of his car.

"Are you ready for out date?" Jean asked once he had sat down and shut his door.

"That's why I called you," Levi answered bluntly. 

Jean seemed taken aback by his comment, but soon he was cheery again. "I guess that's true," he laughed, then pulled away from the curb and started driving.

"Where are we going?" Levi asked a sudden wave of regret hitting him like a train. He barely knew this guy, he could be a serial killer. It wasn't like Levi to be so reckless.

Jean glanced at Levi and gave him a reassuring smile. "We're going to an arcade downtown." Jean answered cheerfully. "I mean- unless you don't want to go." Jean stared uncertainly at the road in front of him.

"That's fine," Levi assured him.

Jean was beginning to feel a nervousness that he hadn't before. _What if we don't have anything in common?_ Jean worried at his lip and tried to sooth himself. _Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Even if I never see him again, at least we tried._ Jean nodded to himself and turned on the radio. 

"You can listen to whatever you like," Jean said, returning his hands to the steering wheel.

"I'd rather not have the radio on." Levi grimaced, he was never that found of music, he much preferred his own thoughts then useless background noise.

"O-okay," Jean turned the radio back off and reached for a topic for them to discuss. "Do you have any animals?" He asked uncertainly.

"I have a black cat named Saphira," Levi voiced proudly. 

"Oh, did you read Eragon? I loved those books," Jean beamed, glad that they had found something to talk about.

"Eragon? I just liked the name," Levi explained. 

Jean sank into his seat, his hope leaving him.  _He's so hard to talk to,_ Jean thought miserably.  _Maybe I should've tried to talk to him before I asked him out._

"What  _do_ you like?" He asked, deciding to give one last push. 

"Well..." No one ever really asked what he liked to do, Isabelle and Farlan already knew everything about him, so he didn't think about it much. "I like flowers and cats...and...I don't know. I'm good at martial arts, though I haven't been in a dojo in years. Tea is nice, and the delicate designs on tea cups can be so intricate and beautiful-" Levi stopped himself, realizing that he was talking too much. "Sorry, I'm rambling," Levi apologized.

"No, please keep going." Jean dismissed Levi's apology with a wave of his hand. "I like listening to you speak." 

Levi worked to subdue his smile before he continued talking about his interests and disinterests. He was able to talk all the way to the arcade, which was not a short trip. Levi was surprised that he was able to talk for that long, because he wasn't all that social, in fact, some might say that the opposite was true, he was just shy of having the misfortune of holding the title of a shut in. 

They had parked in front of a Macy's that was in a large mall. Jean got out and started walking towards the store, pausing for his date before he went inside. Once Levi had caught up, Jean opened the door for him, a gesture that made Levi roll his eyes and got his heart to flutter simultaneously. 

Jean steered them through the store, avoiding the fragrance department like it was the plague. Levi smiled to himself at Jean's cute tendency. 

Once they had emerged from the Macy's Jean took a left and they found themselves in front of a darkened arcade with a bright neon sign hanging above the door that read "ARCADE" in childish handwriting. It was as if they had a kinder gardener write the word arcade and used that for their sign. Jean beckoned for Levi to come inside, and he did, albeit reluctantly. 

When they got inside Levi noted all of the machines that covered all four walls, leaving only the entrance a small opening between a Wheel of Fortune and Spongebob machine. Then Levi started looking around the room at the current inhabitants of the arcade. He was surprised to see that there was only a group of teenagers and a handful of middle aged men that seemed oddly transfixed by their screens. Levi grimaced as he noticed that most of them were sweating profusely on the large machines. 

Jean must have also surveyed the area because he soon cleared his throat. "Ya know what? This was a bad idea, let's go somewhere else." Levi nodded and left the dark room, he hadn't realized he had been holding his breath until he took a big gulp of the fresh air once he was back in the hallway of the mall.

"Maybe I shouldn't plan my dates around the things I liked when I was ten." Jean thought out loud.

"Probably not," despite his best efforts, Levi let out a small huff of amusement. Jean smiled, proud that he had gotten Levi to laugh, even if only lightly.

"You wanna just get some coffee or something?" Jean asked, eyeing a small coffee shop to their left. Levi nodded again and the two ventured to the shop. 

Inside the air smelled of caramel and coffee beans, the light hum of the bustling patrons. Levi smiled to himself, the noises and smells of the establishment making him feel slightly more comfortable. After they had both ordered, they sat down at a small table in the corner of the room. 

"Sorry that the arcade thing was a bust." Jean apologized, fingering the edges of his coat nervously. 

"It's fine," Levi waved off the apology. "I'm not usually that fond of arcades anyway."

"Why didn't you tell me that when I told you about it? I didn't plan for you to be miserable the whole time," Jean sighed. "It wouldn't have hurt my feelings or anything."

Levi scoffed, he wasn't worried about hurting his feelings. But...why didn't he say anything? Levi was about to retort when two coffee cups and two pastries were laid on the table. 

"Thanks," Jean smiled at their waitress, who let out a flustered "You're welcome" before hurrying off to a coworker and talking quickly.

Levi let out an annoyed huff of air and brought the warm sweet coffee up to his lips. The caffeine left a tingling feeling running through his body and an unrest in his mind. 

Jean bit into his pastry, leaving crumbs on the napkin his snack was on as well as all over his face. He frowned slightly, picking up another napkin and wiping his face. 

They ate and drank in near silence, only passing comments passing between them. Jean was utterly board at this point and he could tell that Levi had crossed the line from disinterest into slight annoyance. Desperate to turn the night into one that wouldn't feel like a complete waste of time, Jean stood and threw away their trash, waving for Levi to follow him out. 

"Okay, there's one last place I want to take you okay?" Jean asked as they walked back through the Macy's.

"Alright," Levi answered, sighing mentally. Jean perked up once again and got back in his car, Levi following after him. 

They pulled out of the parking lot and drove in the opposite direction of Levi's shop. Levi stared out of the window, watching the cars and buildings zoom by. As the buildings and lampposts grew fewer Levi couldn't help but have a twinge of anxiety flare up in him. 

"We're almost there," Jean reassured Levi, noting his discomfort. Levi relaxed slightly and sat silently until the car pulled over near a bridge. 

The bridge was lit quite well but seemed nearly deserted. Jean got out of the car, Levi sat motionless for another moment, reluctant to leave the apparent safety of the car. As he slowly opened the door and put a foot on the cold ground Jean walked to the opening of the bridge and pointed at something on the wall that Levi couldn't yet see. 

As Levi grew closer to the thing Jean was pointing at, he began to recognize it as a graffiti painting. The painting was swimming in it's own vibrant reds and blues, it depicted a horse with white and blue wings, red roses circled the picture, seeming to fly with the horse. 

"What a strange painting," Levi murmured to himself, subconsciously taking a step forward to inspect the horse more thoroughly.

"I'm glad you like it," Jean gave Levi a big grin.

"Did you do this?" Levi asked.

"Yeah..." Jean shifted from foot to foot.

"You know this is illegal right?" Levi asked, bringing his hand up to his hip.

Jean laughed at the gesture. "I know, this is the only one I've done."

"That doesn't make it any better," he muttered. Even though Levi thought that what Jean did was irresponsible, he couldn't help but admire Jean's skill as an artist. 

"Alright," Jean said after a minute. "I'm done trying to impress you, I can tell it isn't working. I hope you at least don't loath me after this failed attempt at a date." Jean scratched the back of his neck uncertainly. 

Levi sighed. "I've been on worse dates," a shutter ran through Levi as he thought of his college days. "Besides, you weren't that bad." Levi smirked, walking back to the car.

Jean followed him, a question hot on his lips, but he dare not ask it yet. They once again drove in an almost overwhelming silence. It took until they were in front of the flower shop before Jean finally forced his question out. 

"Do you maybe...wanna go out again sometime?" Jean thought that if they got to know each other more then Levi would be a bit more talkative than he was that night. 

Levi was half way out of the car before he answered. "Sure," Levi didn't mean to sound so disinterested, but Jean didn't seem to notice.

"Alright, I'll call you," Jean winked, staying at the curb until Levi was safely inside the flower shop that doubled as his house. 

Levi walked to the back of the shop, laying down on the bed that was fixed just as it always was. Levi smiled, the widest, most genuine smile he'd felt the need to express in a long time. 

 _This could be fun._ He thought to himself, shutting his eyes and drifting to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> For you fam ;~;


End file.
